The Waikato District Creative Community committee has approved more than $30,000 of Creative Communities NZ grants to support creative arts projects and events. These included the Raglan Film Festival, wearable arts events in Huntly and Raglan, and classes in a range of creative arts in Ngaruawahia and Raglan.
Grants submissions from arts groups from around the district were heard by the Waikato District Creative Communities Scheme Assessment Committee.
The Twin Rivers Arts Council based in Ngaruawahia was granted $6,978 for a series of creative arts classes and workshops for people of all ages from around the north Waikato, teaching Darjit and earth forms sculpture, traditional whatu muka (fibre art and weaving), mosaics, life drawing and other multicultural arts techniques.
The Raglan Community Arts Council was granted $4,096 to support the 2016 Raglan Film Festival, to be held in September and featuring short films by local filmmakers as well as New Zealand feature films and documentaries. It was also granted $4,104 to continue to run its popular after school clay classes for primary and intermediate children.
The Huntly Wearable Arts show in October and the Raglan Art to Wear Awards in June also won support with $5,454 granted to Let’s Get Together Huntly (operating under the Waikato Enterprise Agency) and $3,239 granted to the Raglan Community Arts Council’s ‘Raglan Art to Wear’ team.
Other grants recipients included:
- Whaingaroa Youth Movement, $4,168 for a children’s community dance performance project to be held at the Raglan Town Hall in December;
- Raglan artist Jodi Prinz, $819 for a ‘Funked up Junk’ creative upcycling September school holiday workshop; and
- Cutting Edge Textiles of Ngaruawahia, $1,168 for a teaching workshop on the creative use of art metal (such as shimm and mesh) in combination with Angelina (heat reactive) fibres.